An NHS England patient safety alert has been issued today (4 March 2014) to all NHS services in England that use ECG machines to diagnose cardiac problems. The alert highlights the risk of printing the wrong patient’s ECG records in error, which could lead to misdiagnosis and incorrect treatment. The alert has been issued following […]
A new report published today by the Surgical Never Events Taskforce has made a series of recommendations for new standards and systems to further improve the safety of surgery in English hospitals. In response, NHS England has committed to identifying practical ways to take forward the report’s recommendations to eradicate never events from surgical procedures. […]
An NHS England patient safety alert has been issued today (20 February 2014) to all hospitals in England who administer spinal (intrathecal) chemotherapy, to minimise the risk of wrong route administration. The alert instructs hospitals to only use syringes and needles, and other devices, with non-Luer connectors when delivering this type of chemotherapy, as they […]
This alert provides new guidance on spinal (intrathecal) devices for chemotherapy that replaces guidance in previous alerts NPSA/2009/PSA004A and NPSA/2011/PSA001. All other guidance in previous alerts remains unchanged. Non-Luer spinal (intrathecal) devices for chemotherapy Non-Luer spinal (intrathecal) devices for chemotherapy (supporting information) Analysis of stakeholder engagement responses Patient safety alerts are shared rapidly with healthcare […]
NHS England and the Society for Cardiothoracic Surgery today commented on the current safety of children’s heart surgery at Bristol Children’s Hospital. It follows last week’s meeting between Sir Bruce Keogh and families of children who died at the hospital, where it was agreed that there should be an independent review, chaired by Sir Ian […]
A patient safety alert has been issued today (6 February 2014) by NHS England on the risk of hypothermia for patients on continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT). This alert has been disseminated via the Central Alerting System (CAS) to ensure NHS staff are aware that it is never safe to use CRRT equipment without a […]
In the year since the publication of the Francis Report NHS England has led many significant improvements to address the concerns raised in this landmark report. Jane Cummings, Chief Nursing Officer for England and NHS England Chief Nurse said: “The lasting legacy that NHS England can give back to the patients and families who suffered […]
A new alerting system launched today by NHS England will ensure warnings of potential risks to the safety of patients can be developed much more quickly and be rapidly disseminated right across the NHS. The new National Patient Safety Alerting System (NPSAS) will ensure warnings of emerging risks can be rapidly issued following their identification […]
A need for transparency, better safety checks on testing, consistency and standardisation of processes and procedures are some of the recommendations made to NHS England in a review into pathology services. Professor Sir Bruce Keogh, Medical Director of NHS England commissioned Dr Ian Barnes, chair of NHS England’s Pathology Quality Assurance Review Board, to strengthen and refine the quality assurance […]
NHS England’s Chief Data Officer Dr Geraint Lewis said: “NHS England and the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) welcome the increase in public awareness and debate about NHS data usage following the nationwide distribution of the leaflet ‘Better Information Means Better Care’. “It is vital, however, that this debate is based on facts, […]